The American Express Round 1: J.T. Poston Fires 62 to Grab the Early Lead

The desert does not hand out much mercy on Thursdays in January, but it does hand out birdies, and J.T. Poston collected them by the fistful.

Poston shot a 10-under 62 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West to take a one-shot lead after the opening round of The American Express. Justin Lower sits alone in second after a bogey-free 63 at La Quinta Country Club, and a five-man pack at 8 under includes Jason Day, Joel Dahmen, Chris Kirk, J.J. Spaun and Matti Schmid. Another crowd sits at 7 under, so nobody is running away with anything yet.

Seven Under in Eight Holes

Poston started on the back nine and turned in 32, four birdies in the bag and the round still simmering rather than boiling. Then the front nine caught fire. A run of three straight birdies got things moving, and the centerpiece came at the 527-yard, par-5 7th, where Poston made eagle with birdies on either side of it at 6 and 8. Over the final eight holes, Poston went 7 under, and a lone bogey was the only blemish on a card that carried nine birdies and an eagle.

"I feel like I can go out there and make a bunch of birdies like I did today," Poston said, per the AP.

Nobody should be surprised. Poston has been quietly comfortable in La Quinta, finishing tied for sixth here in 2023 and tied for 11th last year, and the three-time PGA TOUR winner arrived with the confidence of a fall title in Las Vegas at the Shriners Children's Open. Poston told reporters the irons were sharp all day and that a few short putts slipped by early. Imagine the number if those had dropped.

Lower Goes Eagle, Eagle

The most absurd stretch of the day belonged to Lower. On one of the two gentler courses in the rotation, Lower made back-to-back eagles and never dropped a shot, signing for 63 and putting real pressure on the leader.

"I've never done that," Lower said of the consecutive eagles, per the AP. "Any time you can make back-to-back eagles, it certainly helps the score."

That is the kind of understatement golf fans love. For a player still chasing a first PGA TOUR win, it is also exactly the kind of start that changes the shape of a week.

The Stadium Bites Back

Here is the context that matters: The American Express is a three-course rotation, and the courses did not play equal. La Quinta Country Club and the Nicklaus Tournament Course each averaged close to 4 under on Thursday. The Pete Dye Stadium Course, freshly restored to something closer to Dye's original vision with firmer greens, played a touch over par.

That makes Nick Taylor's 65 on the Stadium the most impressive round of the day that is not leading the tournament. Taylor, fresh off winning the Sony Open the previous Sunday, beat the Stadium field average by almost eight shots and sits three back at 7 under. Taylor called the Stadium "probably the most difficult of the three," per CBS Sports, and the scorecards backed that up.

Sepp Straka was quietly excellent too, posting a bogey-free 65 on the Nicklaus to join the logjam at 7 under. Michael Thorbjornsen matched that 65 at La Quinta while playing through tonsillitis on antibiotics, per Field Level Media.

Ace, Debut and a Defending Champ

Sami Valimaki provided the highlight nobody saw coming, holing an 8-iron on the par-3 12th at the Nicklaus for the first ace of Valimaki's professional career and the first ever by a Finnish player on the PGA TOUR, per CBS Sports.

Then there was Blades Brown. The 17-year-old high school junior from Nashville, playing on a sponsor exemption in a first start as a professional, opened with a bogey and a double bogey on the second and third holes. Plenty of veterans would have folded. Brown responded with three straight birdies and then 12 straight pars for an even-par 72 at La Quinta.

"It was challenging the first couple of holes, just because my adrenaline was up," Brown said, per the AP.

Defending champion Nick Dunlap, who won this event as an amateur a year ago before turning pro and claiming Rookie of the Year honors, opened with a 67 at La Quinta. Justin Thomas also shot 67, Tony Finau reached 7 under, and Patrick Cantlay posted 68. The biggest name missing is Scottie Scheffler, who withdrew about 10 days before the event to give an injured right hand more time to heal.

What Thursday Means

With Scheffler out, this week has a wide-open feel, and Thursday leaned into it. The board is crowded, the scoring is loud and the real sorting will happen when everyone has seen all three courses. The 54-hole cut means the field has three days to establish position before Sunday's finale on the Stadium Course.

Poston leads, but with more than a dozen players within three shots and the hardest course still waiting on most of the contenders, one hot round in the desert will not decide this. It just sets the bar.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab) has more details.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 1 recap and leaderboard), AP, CBS Sports, Field Level Media. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.